John Land is a programmer for StickyData.com, a New York
City-based Web development company. But Land, 25, isn't a
typical employee. You won't find him at the office-he
telecommutes from Fairfax, Virginia. "I'm more productive
this way," he says.

Five years ago, prognosticators said Land would be the norm by
now. While the International Telework Association and Council
counts about 24 million regular telecommuters, the prediction that
everyone would trade travel time for a home office hasn't
panned out. Why? Leery managers.

In an October 2000 CareerEngine.com survey, the
career site found 62 percent of managers wanted to decrease
telecommuting, and 21 percent wanted to phase it out. And a
September 2000 American Management survey recorded that 31 percent
of managers had concerns about telecommuters' productivity.
"A lot of people were skeptical about whether telecommuters
were really working," says Jim Ferrara, CEO of
CareerEngine.

"Boomers learned to manage in an industrial economy where
the only way to perform was to be there," Dziak says. But
younger leaders who grew up with laptops will want to continue to
have mobile lifestyles and won't mind others doing the same.
"The Gen X effect on telecommuting will be significant,"
he says, predicting remote work will be so common in 20 years, the
term "telecommuting" will disappear.

Katie Lukas, 24, co-founder and CEO of StickyData-which has 13
employees and annual sales just over $1 million-says telecommuting
makes sense for her company. It allows employees to get more work
done thanks to fewer distractions and frees up office space.
"If we trust the person," she says, "we trust them
to telecommute." The challenge it poses for managers is
transitioning to a mind-set that manages projects instead of
people.

Telecommuting means longer work hours for Land, but he
doesn't plan on returning to the 8-to-5 office routine anytime
soon. "The whole idea," he says, "is to do a good
job so you can keep telecommuting."